Within the March problem of Latitude 38 we convey you the story of Jack van Ommen and the circumstances surrounding his third shipwreck. This one, he says, may have been prevented.
I ought to have listened to the recommendation of Herman, my Dutch brother-in-law, when he introduced me to the airport in Amsterdam: “Jaap, don’t you suppose that you’re too outdated to start out crossing oceans?”
That was in 2004, after I was 67. I took off in spring 2005 from my homeport in Gig Harbor, Washington. On my manner again from Europe in 2013, I suffered my first shipwreck off Ibiza. Some will keep in mind the small print and spectacular footage of the stays of Fleetwood, a Naja 30 I had constructed myself and sailed for 33 years.
© 2022 Jack van Ommen
One of many members of the yacht membership I had joined in Amsterdam then commented that I ought to stop crusing and spend time with my grandchildren. However I bought a duplicate of my first boat (the Najas are plywood, triple-chined package boats) in Puget Sound and accomplished my circumnavigation off Florida on April 1, 2017, a month after my eightieth birthday.
Three months later, I had my second shipwreck on the Barrier Islands off the Virginia coast. Thankfully, I used to be in a position to save the boat that point. It took me a yr’s arduous work to restore the harm in Cape Charles, Virginia. The brand new mates I made there, the engaging locations to sail on the Chesapeake, and the earlier summer season’s sail to Nantucket Sound saved me of their spell.
Simply earlier than COVID hit, I sailed from Beaufort, North Carolina, to Saint Martin. Richard and Donna Spindler handled me to my 83rd birthday dinner on St. Barth. In December, I selected to spend time in Cuba. On my manner from the Hemingway Marina to Rio Dulce, Belize, I had my third and most up-to-date shipwreck on Friday, February 4.
© 2022 Jack Van Ommen
This one may have been prevented.
I used to be crusing a beautiful attain beneath Monitor windvane. I had dinner after taking footage of one other lovely sundown. Three hours later, I wakened hitting a reef. I had deliberate to remain awake till dawn, which has been my routine on the primary evening out: As soon as I get a long way from shore, I set an alarm for brief naps.
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